The Worst Century

Ask a 22-year old White Man!: Murakami, Paolini, Sebold

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century. Normalcy did not return... But never fear! We're still here! (And we might be coming at you a bit more than usual as we start the year and clear out the backlog from 2025 recordings.) Today, you're hearing our conversation about the Goodreads Most Popular books of 2002: Eragon* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780375826696] by Christopher Paolini, The Lovely Bones* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780316168816] by Alice Sebold, and Kafka on the Shore* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781400079278] by Haruki Murakami. We get into how all straight boys need brothers and mentors, the Missing White Girl Industrial Complex(TM), the dangers of woo-woo spiritualism and "taking space" on community work, and more! Links: * Page: BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/nosferatoos.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/nosferatoo/] * Ian: Substack [https://theworstcentury.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile], BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/criticalgayze.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/criticalgayze/] * Other Links: The ALEX Awards [https://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards], Origin of Eragon [https://www.paolini.net/2014/11/07/pub-eragon-rural-mt-nyt-bestseller/], "Ezra Klein Just... [https://lizbucar.substack.com/p/ezra-klein-just-showed-us-everything]" Subscribe to get our next episode where we will discuss the critics' choice books of the year 2002. We'll be reading The Russian Debutante's Handbook* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781573229883] by Gary Shteyngart, Perma Red [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781571311467]* by Debra Magpie Earling, and Caramelo [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780679742586]* by Sandra Cisneros. As always, consider following and leaving us a rating and review. If you like what you hear, share the pod far and wide! Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrXv4yQbg0]" from BigBadBeats. * All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Take Me Back to God’s Own Country: Eugenides, Haslett, Barrett, Glass

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century. Readers, normalcy did not return as originally promised, but we are scheming and plotting for 2026 with the hopes of a new version of ourselves. We are back though, and we're getting into the awards contenders of 2002! In this episode, we are talking about Middlesex* by Jeffrey Eugenides, You Are Not a Stranger Here* by Adam Haslett, Servants of the Map* by Andrea Barrett, and Three Junes* by Julia Glass. We're defining what makes a book queer vs. gay, the appearance of AIDS in our reading list, capitalism's automation of humans, AI doxxing ICE agents, and straight white men as The Problem(TM). Also, Page (if you're listening), there are several links you owe me! Links: Page: BlueSky, Letterboxd Ian: Substack, BlueSky, Letterboxd Other Links: Diabolus Ex Machina, AI ICE Un-Masking, Conversation with My Father Subscribe to get our next episode where we will discuss the Goodreads most popular books of the year 2002. We'll be reading The Lovely Bones* by Alice Sebold, Eragon* by Christopher Paolini, and Kafka on the Shore* by Haruki Murakami. As always, consider following and leaving us a rating and review. If you like what you hear, share the pod far and wide! Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats. * All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Verbalize Scare Quotes: Stranger Faces

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century. Normalcy is (maybe) returning to the Worst Century feed, and we are back with the final installment in our discussion of the year 2001. In this episode, we use Namwali Serpell's 2020 collection Stranger Faces [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781945492433]* to look at the role of the face in 2001 and today. To help do this work, we get into four great films, which you can find here [https://letterboxd.com/criticalgayze/list/the-worst-century-episode-9/] if you want to watch before you listen. During the discussion, we get into pet theories based on the year 2001, MAGA face, and the required autobiography of marginalized folks when creating art. Links: * Page: BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/nosferatoos.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/nosferatoo/] * Ian: Substack [https://theworstcentury.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile], BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/criticalgayze.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/criticalgayze/] * Other Links: “Mirror Image [https://englishwithperez.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/6/1/22610372/mirror_image_lena_coakley.pdf],” Joe Scanlan [https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2010/07/01/joe-scanlan/] Like us? Hate us? Leave us a rating and a review! Subscribe to get our next episode where we will discuss the award winning books of the year 2002. We'll be reading Middlesex [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780312427733]* by Jeffrey Eugenides, You Are Not a Stranger Here [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780385720724]* by Adam Haslett, Servants of the Map [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780393323573]* by Andrea Barrett, and Three Junes [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780385721424]* by Julia Glass. As always, consider following and leaving us a rating and review. If you like what you hear, share the pod far and wide! Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrXv4yQbg0]" from BigBadBeats. * All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Ian Hasn't Seen a Movie: Alameddine, Erdrich, Everett, Palahniuk, Patchett

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century. Life continues to disrupt, but God's two favorite little soldiers power on. This episode, we get into the critical darlings of 2001: Bel Canto* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780060838720] by Anne Patchett; I, the Divine* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780393323566] by Rabih Alameddine; The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780061577628] by Louise Erdrich; Erasure* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781555975999] by Percival Everett; Choke* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780385720922] by Chuck Palahniuk. The discussion ranges from what these 2001 books were saying about women and Queers to the resonating call for a return to small community and new literary lenses. Links: * Page: BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/nosferatoos.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/nosferatoo/] * Ian: Substack [https://theworstcentury.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile], BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/criticalgayze.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/criticalgayze/] * Other Links: Namwali Serpell “New Literalism [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/critics-notebook/the-new-literalism-plaguing-todays-biggest-movies],” Ross Barkan “New Romanticism [https://rosselliotbarkan.com/p/the-rise-of-the-new-romanticism]” Like us? Hate us? Leave us a rating and a review! Subscribe to get our next episode where we explore the themes of 2001. We'll be discussing Namwali Serpell's 2020 collection Stranger Faces* [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781945492433] along with the movies Better Man [https://letterboxd.com/film/better-man-2024/] (2024) and A Different Man [https://letterboxd.com/film/a-different-man/] (2024). Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrXv4yQbg0]" from BigBadBeats. * All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Stay Young, Make Content: Sue Monk Kidd, Yann Martel, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Reproductive/Gendered Violence Content Warning Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century. After a month and a half of moves, power outages, and vacations, we're back! This episode, we're talking about the "Most Popular" fiction books of 2001 as listed by GoodReads: Life of Pi [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780156027328] by Yann Martel*, The Secret Life of Bees [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780142001745] by Sue Monk Kidd*, and The Shadow of the Wind [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780143034902] by Carlos Ruiz Zafón*. We get into Page's hatred of child protagonists, some of their favorite current cultural theories, identity co-opting, and political repression. Links: * Page: BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/nosferatoos.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/nosferatoo/] * Ian: Substack [https://theworstcentury.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile], BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/criticalgayze.bsky.social], Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/criticalgayze/] * Other Links: Goodreads Most Popular [https://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by_date/2001], Jane Smiley Huck Finn Article [https://jtbarbarese.camden.rutgers.edu/files/2013/05/Jane-Smiley-Sayit-Aint-So.pdf], “First They Came For” [https://hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/] Like us? Hate us? Leave us a rating and a review! Subscribe to get our August 10 episode on the critical favorites of 2001: Erasure [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9781555975999] by Percival Everett*; I, The Divine [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780393323566] by Rabih Alameddine*; The Last Report on the Miracle at Little No Horse [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780061577628] by Louise Erdrich*; Bel Canto [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780060838720] by Ann Patchett*; and Choke [https://bookshop.org/a/2205/9780385720922] by Chuck Palahniuk. Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing (and fact-checking) support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrXv4yQbg0]" from BigBadBeats. * All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.